Station Cafe - "imminent risk to health"

[Swirlz]

From the Liverpool Echo

Station snack bar "an imminent risk to human health"

A SNACK bar at a busy Wirral train station was shut down after health inspectors found mice droppings throughout and said it posed "an imminent risk to human health".

Wirral Magistrates Court approved the closure order against Denise's Snack Bar at Birkenhead Central Station on Argyle Street South after an application by the council.

Inspectors told the court they had found mouse droppings on food storage surfaces, in cleaning cloths and on display shelves.

They also said a packet of cheese and onion crisps had been found "gnawed" and droppings were also found on and around drinks cans.

Senior environmental health officer Jon Hardwick told magistrates: "The items gnawed were on display and my colleague removed them.

“They were clearly intended to be sold."

He said: "Rodents had also been on and around trays of canned drinks."

Mr Hardwick said when he attended the snack bar its proprietor, Denise Boothroyd, who did not attend the hearing, had said she had seen a mouse earlier in the month and had called in pest control... (read more)

Why didn't Merseyrail find this out? Been there for years! There is a depot at Birkenhead Central so I imagine the cafe was being used a lot by the staff.

 

[TUC]

A SNACK bar at a busy Wirral train station was shut down after health inspectors found mice droppings throughout and said it posed "an imminent risk to human health".

Read More http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/live...o-human-health-100252-32156419/#ixzz2BAPZJ4cH

Why didn't Merseyrail find this out? Been there for years! There is a depot at Birkenhead Central so I imagine the cafe was being used a lot by the staff.

Because the snack bar is presumably a tenant at the station. The operator of the cafe is responsible for hygiene standards, not Merseyrail.

 

[Swirlz]

Because the snack bar is presumably a tenant at the station. The operator of the cafe is responsible for hygiene standards, not Merseyrail.

But you would assume that a responsible landlord would be regularly inspecting their premises, especially one that is frequently feeding their staff? If it is in such a bad state, Merseyrail would have/should have been aware for some time. I don't imagine places are shut down by court order without many, many warnings.

If they are infested with rodents etc, then it is surely up to the landlord to resolve, because presumably they are also in the station?

I think Merseyrail has a duty of care to their passengers, staff, and even the tenants to ensure that the premises are fit for purpose.

 

[SS4]

Because the snack bar is presumably a tenant at the station. The operator of the cafe is responsible for hygiene standards, not Merseyrail.

And presumably it's the local authority's role to check said hygiene standards.

 

[TUC]

But you would assume that a responsible landlord would be regularly inspecting their premises, especially one that is frequently feeding their staff? If it is in such a bad state, Merseyrail would have/should have been aware for some time. I don't imagine places are shut down by court order without many, many warnings.

If they are infested with rodents etc, then it is surely up to the landlord to resolve, because presumably they are also in the station?

I think Merseyrail has a duty of care to their passengers, staff, and even the tenants to ensure that the premises are fit for purpose.

So do you think that every owner of multiple large shopping centres goes around checking the hygiene standards of their hundreds of tenants? Why should TOCs be any different? Just because you rent out some property does not place a duty of care on you for food that happens to be served in there.

 

[Swirlz]

So do you think that every owner of multiple large shopping centres goes around checking the hygiene standards of their hundreds of tenants? Why should TOCs be any different? Just because you rent out some property does not place a duty of care on you for food that happens to be served in there.

They do, actually. Ok, so the actual owner may not do it personally, but it is often delegated to a person or estate management company to do so.

Periodic premises inspections are common clauses within commercial tenancy agreements.

They can be surprisingly frequent. An owner needs to ensure that their tenant is acting appropriately, especially in relation to fire safety and waste management, (both of which can directly affect neighbours and any other tenants).

The food is a red herring here. The premises was unclean, infested and had potential fire hazards. The tenant caused these, but equally the landlord failed to identify these hazards. Merseyrail should have at least reported this to the Local Authority rather than relying on a random inspection as part of the FSA push to "rate" food premises.

Infectious rodents from this premises could have directly affected the remainder of the railway station and the depot.

 

[tsr]

Periodic premises inspections are common clauses within commercial tenancy agreements.

Yes - and, from my past experiences working in property management, I know what a jolly good idea they are, too!

 

[jamesst]

A SNACK bar at a busy Wirral train station was shut down after health inspectors found mice droppings throughout and said it posed "an imminent risk to human health".

Read More http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/live...o-human-health-100252-32156419/#ixzz2BAPZJ4cH

Why didn't Merseyrail find this out? Been there for years! There is a depot at Birkenhead Central so I imagine the cafe was being used a lot by the staff.

Haha believe me no staff at the depot used that cafe if they could help it!!

 

[185]

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/sjp/BKC/images/photos/800/o1233-0000097.jpg

Ewww.

Merseyrail. More than just a gerbil.

 

[Robsignals]

Isn't Network Rail the Landlord for all stations?

 

[sprinterguy]

Isn't Network Rail the Landlord for all stations?

The TOCs are responsible for letting retail premises on stations that they manage.

 

[calc7]

I think TOCs own some newer stations, e.g. Chiltern do Warwick Parkway